Eagle Valley Clean Energy Wins USDA Loan Guarantee for Colorado Biomass ProjectReleased October 18, 2012 | SUGAR LANDResearched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)–Eagle Valley Clean Energy LLC (Provo, Utah) won a U.S. Department of Agriculture loan guarantee to construct Colorado’s first commercial-scale, biomass-fired power plant in Gypsum, Colorado. The $40 million loan will cover the majority of the cost to construct the plant; however, approximately $10 million needs to be secured to cover the remaining expenses of the project. Eagle Valley also still needs air permits and building permits to move forward with underground site and concrete work. Eagle Valley hopes to finalize the financing package and start construction later this year. The plant is expected to be up and running by the end of 2013. Plans call for the plant to be built on 16 acres directly east of the American Gypsum plant in Gypsum. A fuel preparation and handling system will be constructed that will feed a wood-fired, 100,000-pound-per-hour boiler to drive an 11.5-megawatt steam turbine generator. That capacity will be connected and sold to Holy Cross Energy (Glenwood Springs, Colorado) to help the company meet customer demands to generate some of its power from renewable sources. Wellons Incorporated (Vancouver, Washington) was selected as the design-build contractor for the estimated $46 million project. The plant will be located roughly 165 miles west of Denver in Eagle County.